Bobo and Milly
by BeneathTheUmbrella
Summary: Ted and Tracy make a summertime visit to the Central Park Zoo. (For the HIMYM 10th anniversary ficathon.)


So, in honour of our beloved show's 10th anniversary, I decided to put together a little ficathon. Despite the fact that many of us were disappointed by the finale, it doesn't change the fact that we all loved these characters and enjoyed the show for nine seasons. So I've enlisted the help of many other of our fave fic writers for the occasion, so please check out (and review) their stories as they flow in throughout the day. Thank you to all of you for agreeing to take part!

And here is my entry. (My 50th HIMYM fic, to boot!) Fun fact: there are no capuchin monkeys at the Central Park Zoo. The show clearly didn't do its research... It has snow monkeys, though! Anyway, I took liberties in squeezing in Bobo and Milly into the zoo layout. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

"Hey, the zoo's still open! Want to check it out?"

Ted and Tracy were on a late-afternoon, early-evening troll through Central Park, a regular summertime activity for the new couple, when they walked by the Central Park Zoo. Tracy seemed to get very excited—it was the little things that often made her happy, he had learned in the eight weeks of knowing her—grasping at Ted's hand eagerly.

Ted had never visited the zoo as a New Yorker, not once. He'd probably come as a child with his parents and sister as a kid, once or twice when on a family vacation in the city. It was a shame, as the place had quite a bit of history. But then again, as an adult, he had always thought it too touristy, giving off a been-there-done-that attitude.

But he wasn't as blasé anymore. Being with Tracy, well, everything seemed new again and exciting. Even something as simple as a stroll through the zoo would now be added to a great list of memories he was creating with Tracy, perhaps making for a good story he'd someday tell their future children. "Kids, the first time your mom and I visited the Central Park Zoo together..." Not that walking into a zoo was particularly noteworthy, but Ted liked to think that it could be.

So with those brown eyes staring up at him, wide and shining, how could he even think of saying anything but, "Sure"?

He grumbled slightly at the ticket booth ("$36 for two people!" he exclaimed to Tracy as they crossed the gate) but calmed when Tracy hooked her arm with his and gently pulled him in the direction of the sea lions. Ted immediately got excited, whipping out Random Fun Architecture Fact no2691 from his mental Rolodex, going on about the architect who designed the sea lion pool, and how he studied the animal's habits to influence its design. And despite nearly the entire zoo being demolished and redesigned in the 1980s, the pool itself was one of the few parts that were retained, save for a small redesign.

Even though they had a lot of ground to cover in only 40 minutes before the zoo closed, Tracy was still unhurried as they followed the suggested path. She gleefully gazed at the ducks and turtles in the pond; they both cooed over the penguins; Tracy was entranced by the snow leopards, Ted more so by the grizzly bears; they quickly dipped into the rainforest zone and caught a glimpse of a lemur; Ted (only half-jokingly) tried to hatch a plan to kidnap a ridiculously adorable red panda up in a tree; until they finally made it to the capuchin monkey enclosure.

They walked towards the wrought-iron fence, peering in to see two monkeys sitting together on a tree branch, huddled close. Ted's eyes narrowed curiously, and he peered down at the information panel in front of him...

"Hey, it's Bobo and Milly!" Ted exclaimed happily after getting confirmation of his suspicions.

"Friends of yours?" Tracy asked with a playful grin, looking down at the panel, too.

He smiled. "Wait, I never told you this story?"

She gave him a look. "Ted, in the two months we've been dating, you've told me _lots_ of stories. I'm trying my best to keep track; my brain is still processing them all."

Ted chuckled. He _may_ have overdone it with all the anecdotes about him and his friends.

"Ok, I get it. But this is a _good_ story—"

"So you've said about every one of them so far, but go on," she said, pretending to be annoyed, but clearly wanting to hear the story.

And so he told her the tale of Marshall getting mugged by a monkey. Lily's desire to buy a gun. Marshall taking back the story. His segment on Robin's news show. Not sure to lie or tell the truth when it was revealed Bobo would be taken away from his mate. The monkey's daring climb atop the fake Empire State Building...

"And they got Bobo down and brought him back to Milly," he concluded, turning to look at the two little monkeys. "And I guess they've been together ever since."

Ted and Tracy stood there in silence for a bit, gazing at the animals, both thinking about how Bobo and Milly were almost torn apart, how they could've spent their remaining years separated and alone. Ted knew that new world monkeys like the capuchin were fairly monogamous—as well as social, much like humans—so having Bobo separated from his mate could've been disastrous. Sure, there were a few other monkeys hanging around in the pen, but as Ted knew, you can have many friends (great ones, at that) but still long for something—or someone, rather—more.

"It's nice that they're together," Tracy eventually said, tenderly bumping her shoulder with Ted's. "I mean, they're clearly in love. Look at the way Milly is picking at the bugs off of Bobo's back. It's sweet." Sure enough, one monkey was grooming the other.

"It's kind of like when you wash my back in the shower," he teased tenderly, bumping her in return.

Tracy gave him a wicked grin. "Actually, it's most similar to me occasionally popping the blackheads on your back."

Ted's eyes went big. " _Babe..._ " he hissed nervously, embarassed as he looked around them, not wanting people to know Tracy's gross little habit that he secretly enjoyed.

She just laughed and waved her hand. "Relax, pooh bear," she said reassuringly. "You don't even know how common it is. Besides, I don't know, it's kind of intimate. Picking at pimples and scabs off your lover's back or, in this case, picking at bugs. I mean, that's _love_ , isn't it?"

 _What is love?_ Ted pondered that a moment, trying to ignore the '90s club beat in his head. Having someone to embrace the good, the bad, and the disgusting parts of you; to have someone have your back, quite literally at times, is what it ultimately is about. "It is," he finally agreed softly. "In grossness and in health."

That made Tracy giggle appreciatively, and the couple then turned to gaze at the furry couple one last time. Bobo and Milly seemed to gaze back at them, Ted wondering if Bobo knew that the girl next to him was _his_ Milly. "Nice job, bro," he imagined the monkey saying approvingly. "Don't let some jerk label you a criminal and have your handler take you away to a separate cage!"

With only five minutes until closing, they turned away and headed back towards the zoo exit, quietly walking alongside a dozen of other visitors. Ted let Tracy cross the turnstiles first, and he followed suit, the both of them now back onto the park's path, walking northward.

"So... _did_ Marshall end up getting mugged by Bobo?" she asked eventually, her hand reaching for his as they walked underneath the Delacorte Clock, the chimes of "Hickory Dickory Dock" as their background music, indicating that it was now 5:30.

Ted laughed. "I don't know," he admitted, accepting Tracy's hand and lacing their fingers together. "I'd like to think I know everything about my friends, but I guess we'll never know what happened at the park that night."

He pondered the weirdness of that incident and the mystery that surrounded it still as Ted and Tracy continued with their stroll, the summer sun shining brightly down on them.

 _END_

* * *

 _ **Happy 10th anniversary, HIMYM! (And, of course, happy 31st birthday, Tracy!)**_


End file.
